Nowadays, two different processes are used in web offset printing: heatset and coldset.
The coldset process is mostly used to print newspapers and paperbacks, with the printing ink drying purely by absorption.
In the heatset process, the paper is passed through a large dryer and a chill roll unit after the last printing unit. The length of the printing press is almost doubled by these two units. To ensure that the ink dries optimally, special heat-drying inks are used here.
The paper running through the printing machine at high speed is heated up in the dryer as the mineral oils contained in the printing ink only evaporate at around 200 degrees. The dry air that is blown onto the paper therefore has a temperature of around 250 degrees Celsius and heats not only the printing ink but also the paper to 100° to 120° Celsius. This process removes a great deal of moisture from the paper, as the water contained in the paper simply evaporates. As a result, difficulties such as the paper curling, bubbles or even static charging of the paper web arise. In addition, the resins in the printing ink become liquid, i.e. the ink becomes soft and sticky. Only when the ink is cooled in a flash at the end of the dryer by specially coated chill rolls does it become solid and acquire its characteristic heatset gloss.
The paper, which is very much affected by the heat, is moistened with a water-silicone mixture after the sudden cooling to 20° to 30° Celsius. The water moistens the paper, the silicone ensures that the print is scratch-resistant.
Papers used in heatset must therefore be highly resistant to heat, liquid loss, bubbles and swelling.
Due to the high energy consumption and stricter environmental regulations, heatset plants today are mainly operated with heat recovery systems.
Typical heatset colour profiles for printing and proofing are:
- PSO SNP Paper (ECI)
- ISONewspaper 26v4
Both are available on shop.proof.de as proof profiles.
A good video showing a heatset system can be found on youtube:
Heatset Video
You can also learn more about web offset on Wikipedia.
In the current issue of Fogra News “Fogra Aktuell” Proof GmbH is involved in two places. Firstly, a summary of the Fogra report on our first FOGRA55 certification for seven-colour printing with extended colour space in CMYKOGV appeared. You can also find more information on our FOGRA55 certification on the Fogra website: https://fogra.org/en/press-releases/fogracert-erste-cpc-zertifizierung-fuer-fogra55-cmykogv-330 and on proofing.de: And secondly, there was a report on the completion of the research project for textile digital printing, FOGRA58, in which we were allowed to investigate and test the proof capability of the new textile … read more
Digimarc is a digital watermark that can be used to embed information in images, videos or other media. Digimarc watermarks are invisible to the human eye, but remain recognisable to special software or devices. Digimarc is becoming increasingly popular in the packaging sector in particular, as this technology allows the digits of the EAN barcode and more to be applied invisibly to all areas of the packaging. Digimarc and EAN barcode at the supermarket checkout When scanning at the checkout, the checkout staff do not have to search for the … read more
Offset and Newsprint ISO Coated v2 (ECI) / ISO Coated v2 300% (ECI) Profile: ISOcoated_v2_eci.icc Standard for glossy and matte coated paper Paper: Types 1 and 2, gloss and matte coated Tone value increase curves A (CMY) and B (K) as defined in ISO 12647-2:2004 Characterisation Data: FOGRA39L ISOUncoated Profile: ISOUncoated.icc Standard for uncoated white natural paper Paper: paper grade 4, uncoated white offset, dot gain curves C (CMY) and D (K) from ISO 12647-2: 2004 Characterisation Data: FOGRA29L PSOCoatedV3 / Fogra 51 Profile: PSOcoated_v3.icc The successor of ISOCoatedV2 for glossy … read more
This year we once again created proofs for Fogra certification and sent them to Munich-Aschheim for testing. With these proof prints, which we print according to three different proof standards and on three different papers, we point out that we not only deliver excellent proof quality through internal quality controls and checks, but that the quality of our proofs is also measured and confirmed by external experts. We have now had test prints certified by Fogra for the 12th time. We have also been “Spot-cert” certified for the display of … read more
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Today I received an email in which PANTONE asked how it should orientate its products and services in the future. The users were asked which countries, industries and company sizes they come from, but also what PANTONE products should look like in the future and what customers would be prepared to pay for PANTONE services in the future. Question: How much can PANTONE services cost? PANTONE appears to be orientating itself on the PANTONE Connect prices: All price queries have the lowest price category < $ 7,- / month, i.e. … read more
A few days ago Proof GmbH was the first company to be certified for proofing for the new 7C exchange colour space FOGRA55. Fogra has developed characterisation data for extended multicolour printing with the printing colours CMYKOGV – i.e. cyan, magenta, yellow, black (contrast), orange, green and violet – FOGRA55 as part of a research project over the past few years. The characterisation data and the ICC profile Ref-ECG-CMYKOGV_FOGRA55_TAC300.icc have been published on the Fogra website in recent weeks. We have now carried out the certification via GMG ColorProof, as … read more